30 Day OTP Challenge
by whitecrossgirl
Summary: Based around the challenge I found Deviantart; 30 different stories based on 30 different prompts. All of them are Hotch/Emily pairings and feel free to read and enjoy. Day 29: Doing Something Sweet & Day 30: Doing Something Hot
1. Day 1: Holding Hands

**AN: So I've been having serious writer's block at the moment and I decided that doing the 30 Day OTP Challenge would help. I started uploading these onto Tumblr before I remembered to upload them here. Enjoy. Also my Tumblr name is whitecrossgirl, same as on here so feel free to follow me, I will follow back or message me if you like if you're on Tumblr too. **

30 Day OTP Challenge: Day 1- Holding Hands

Emily glanced up into Hotch's office before looking up again. He was sitting at his desk, his hands rested against his temples and staring blankly at his desk. Emily knew straight away what was wrong. Ever since he'd told the team that Haley had filed for divorce, there had been a sort of awkwardness between them. Hotch wasn't one for reaching out to people but at the same time, she hated the idea of him feeling like he had to go through this alone. They weren't exactly best friends but they definitely had become closer after the whole Milwaukee thing. Strauss had tried to tear the team apart and ended up bringing them closer together. Go figure.

Emily got up from her desk and walked up the steps towards Hotch's office. The rest of the team had gone and Hotch was clearly unaware of her presence otherwise he wouldn't have shown any sort of weakness; not even in the privacy of his office. It shouldn't be like that, Hotch was human too and it was okay to show emotion sometimes. Emily considered the irony that she of all people was considering telling Hotch to show more emotion but dismissed that as she knocked on the door.

Hotch jumped at the sound of someone knocking his door. Quickly hiding the envelope containing the divorce papers under a file and taking a second to try and hide any physical evidence of how he was feeling, told whoever was outside to come in.

"Prentiss, is something wrong?" Aaron asked as Emily walked into the room and approached his desk, a look of concern on her face.

"Everything alright?" Emily asked needlessly. They both knew the answer to that but she was offering him an out; to cover up and lie or reach out to the help she was offering.

"I signed the papers." Hotch admitted resignedly.

"Oh Hotch," Emily replied sympathetically. She made a gesture with her wrist, as if she was going to reach out to him but stopped herself at the last moment. It seemed to have gone unnoticed by Hotch who shook his head.

"I suppose it was for the best. It's just-" Hotch trailed off and Emily understood. He still loved Haley despite all of this. Emily and the team weren't stupid; they knew that Haley didn't hate Aaron; their marriage just wasn't working anymore. If anything that was worse than if there was hatred between them; if there was hatred then divorce was the best option. In this situation, there was no other option. She'd seen it millions of times before. How many marriages did she watch crumble and die due to 'work commitments' taking priority over everything.

"I know," Emily replied genuinely and this time, she allowed herself to reach out. Her hand rested on Aaron's hand and for a moment neither of them moved before Aaron moved his hand so that it was resting in Emily's.

Neither of them said anything; their hands were being held gently, with no pressure from either of them. It was a sign of comfort, of support and a reminder that he wasn't alone. They didn't speak, their joined hands did all the speaking for them.


	2. Day 2: Cuddling Somewhere

**30 Day OTP Challenge Day 2: Cuddling Somewhere**

Why did people always look so small and helpless in a hospital bed? Why did those rhythmically beeping machines have the power to make the strongest person look beaten and defeated? How did the white linen sheets make even the palest of skin look paler in comparison?

Hotch didn't know and right now, there were more pressing matters to consider. As far as the team knew at the moment, Emily was dead. Doyle had killed her. It wasn't true but the lie was a necessity in order to keep Emily safe and alive until they stopped Doyle once and for all. JJ was sorting out the finer details for Emily's transfer into protective custody and out of the country. When she would able to return, none of them knew but hopefully it would be sooner rather than later. Hotch hadn't left the hospital when the team, heartbroken, shocked and devastated had. He couldn't. He had to say goodbye first.

A low groaning noise brought Hotch out of his thoughts as Emily stirred and began to regain consciousness. In an instant he was at her side, watching as she opened her eyes and tried to work out where she was.

"Where am I?" Emily murmured dazedly. She could hear beeping and smelt that familiar antiseptic smell that only seemed to exist in hospitals.

"You're in the hospital Emily," Hotch replied gently. "Do you remember what happened?"

Emily thought for a second. The warehouse. Doyle. Pain. Burning blinding pain on her breast and abdomen. Pain. Blood. Dying. She was dying. Doyle was killing her. He was hurting her.

"Emily, Emily calm down. You're safe. Doyle can't get you." Hotch said as Emily began to hyperventilate and panic as though expecting Doyle to leap out at any second and attack. Slowly, Emily began to calm down and she clutched Hotch's arm with a surprising amount of strength for someone who'd almost died.

"Where is he?" Emily asked.

"He got away before we found him but we will find him for you." Hotch reassured.

"For you?" Emily repeated and then she understood. "He thinks I'm dead."

"Not just Doyle." Hotch replied and Emily lay back on her pillows, knowing exactly what he meant by that. The team would also be told she'd died. That meant faking her death again; 'dying' the same way that Lauren had 'died'. It was the only way to keep all of them safe. Doyle had bought the faked death once before; it was worth a shot to try it again.

"Where am I going?" Emily asked.

"I can't know." Hotch replied gently as he took her hand, squeezing it gently.

"When will I come back?" Emily asked.

"As soon as possible." Hotch replied. "We will find Doyle, no matter what."

"I know," Emily replied as tears filled her eyes. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to get you involved. I almost got us all killed. He knew about all of your lives. I had to face him alone. I had to protect you guys."

"I know you did," Hotch replied. He would have done exactly the same; in a way he did do exactly the same with Foyet; make Foyet target him and not the team and his family. Minimal Loss situation.

"Can-can you hold me?" Emily asked quietly. "I don't want him to be the last person who touched me."

"Of course," Hotch said and he sat down on the bed, resting against the pillows. He placed an arm around Emily, who turned slightly in order to stretch her left arm across his chest whilst Hotch placed his arm around her shoulders and held her tightly, giving her the comfort and protection that came with knowing she was safe, loved and someday would come home.

All too soon there was a knock at the door and a weary but determined looking JJ came into the room. If she was surprised by the sight of Hotch cuddling Emily, she didn't show it.

"Everything's ready." JJ said and Hotch and Emily moved apart, the latter wincing slightly as the movements jolted her still-painful stomach.

"Hotch," Emily began, about to say something that she needed to tell him before she went to God-Knows-Where for God-Knows-How-Long.

"It's OK," Hotch replied, quickly hugging her again. "We'll find him."

As he left the room to allow JJ to help Emily get ready to be transferred from the hospital; Hotch thought about Doyle. The terrorist son of a bitch had gotten away and had a large web of connections and followers. He could be anywhere and with Emily supposedly dead, it was going to be difficult to track him. Difficult but not impossible. They would find Doyle. They would stop him and they would bring Emily home.

No matter what.


	3. Day 3: Gaming or Watching A Movie

**30 Day OTP Challenge day 3: Gaming/Watching A Movie**

The words began moving themselves on the screen. It was a good word, generating a good score and points for her however she didn't care about that. Instead she looked at the word she'd just placed.

HOMESICK

A few moments later, her opponent placed a connecting word onto the onscreen board.

SAME

She looked at her letters and shifted them around to get enough for a good enough word with the limited letters she had.

TEAM

There was another brief hesitation as her opponent waited and worked out a short response.

OKAY

It wasn't enough but at the same time, told her all she needed to know at the moment. There was so much more she wanted to ask but was unable to; it was hard to know what to say and how to say it. Time was also running out, she couldn't stay online too long, She couldn't do anything for too long without endangering herself. Therefore she shifted her letters about and placed one word that told her opponent what she knew he needed to know.

LOVE

Hotch smiled as the word flicked onto the screen and as JJ came to call him in for the consult, he quickly tapped a response onto his table.

YOU

Emily smiled at the screen before logging out of the game and switching the laptop off. She crossed to the window of her apartment and looked out at the early afternoon Parisian skyline and despite the homesickness that was overwhelming her, she knew she would soon be home again where she belonged.


	4. Day 4: On A Date

**AN: I really wasn't sure what to put for this, I wanted to keep it short as I also posted it on Tumblr but this idea came to mind and I liked it; the idea of them trying to deny that they're dating when they obviously are. **

It wasn't a date. They had finished up a case late and went for a few drinks.

It wasn't a date. They just felt like grabbing some coffee whilst on their lunch break.

It wasn't a date. It was just taking Jack to the cinema so he could watch the newest superhero movie he'd been dying to see.

It wasn't a date. It was just an early-evening walk in the park.

It wasn't a date. It was just going to their friend's wedding.

"We'll talk about this on Monday." He'd said.

"It's a date." She said finally with a smile.


	5. Day 5: Kissing

**AN: Thanks for the reviews and support. It means a lot as I've been seriously stressed over a uni assignment and it seriously helps to see your nice feedback for this**

"Truth or dare?" Morgan asked Emily, a grin on his face as Emily contemplated her answer before she leaned back in her chair.

"Dare. Do your worst." Emily replied confidently. A lack of cases, paperwork and a high level of boredom had prompted the majority of the team to begin playing Truth or Dare in order to amuse themselves and kill time before they could get away with leaving work early for once.

"Dare? Well then I dare you to," Morgan looked around for inspiration as he tried to devise a dare that he knew Emily would be unable to do. Morgan glanced up at Hotch's office and smirked as the perfect impossible dare came to his mind.

"I dare you to kiss Hotch." Morgan finished, smirking at a now-stunned Emily. Reid chocked on his coffee and JJ and Garcia exchanged unsure looks. "What's the matter Princess? Scared?"

"I'm not scared." Emily replied immediately. She wasn't scared and normally she _never_ turned down any sort of dare but kissing Hotch... Not that she didn't want to kiss him because she did. She really did. She just didn't fancy being reported for sexually harassing her boss and friend.

"Then do it." Morgan teased. "You are scared aren't you?" To add to her declining mood and debating mind, Morgan began making chicken noises prompting Emily to snap. Her pride and impulsive side took over as she jumped to her feet and glared at Morgan.

"Scared am I? Watch this." Emily retorted and before she could stop herself, began walking up the steps to Hotch's office. Morgan fell silent as he and the rest of the team watched as Emily knocked on the door and walked into Hotch's office.

"Come in." Hotch said as he looked up from the files he was reviewing over, hoping to get as many as he could done before he went home to Jack. "Emily, is something wrong?"

"No," Emily replied and she walked over to Hotch's desk. An unfamiliar nervous feeling which she never usually got around men, especially Hotch began to twist in her stomach and she took a moment to calm herself. It was just a kiss. No big deal. A pucker, a peck and the dare was done. Simple.

Emily was too distracted by her thoughts that she missed the look of concern on Hotch's face as he looked at her. "Are you sure everything's alright Emily?" Hotch asked her again.

_'Screw it,' _Emily thought to herself. Before her common sense came back to her, Emily walked around Hotch's desk until she was standing beside him, She grabbed his shoulders and quickly kissed him on the mouth. The kiss was gentle and chaste and only lasted a few moments before Emily stepped back and quickly turned away.

"I'm really sorry." Emily apologised quickly and Hotch shook his head.

"Don't be." Hotch replied giving her a small smile. Taken aback by his unexpected response but certain it meant that she wouldn't get in any (more) trouble; Emily smiled back and left his office, determined to ignore the fact her legs seemed to have turned to spaghetti after a brief kiss. Emily rejoined the others who were doing their best to hide their shocked (Reid), impressed, (Morgan) and knowing (JJ and Garcia) expressions and smirked back at Morgan.

"Truth or dare." Emily challenged him.

As Morgan chose Truth and Emily challenged him to tell the full story about the Kitten and the Manhattan Alleyway (long story), Hotch watched her out of his office window and smiled to himself.

"Still got it." He muttered under his breath as he got back to work, only sometimes looking at the attractive brunette who'd just kissed him.


	6. Day 6: Wearing Each Other's Clothes

**AN: I debated to make this hot or dramatic but then I had this idea with Jack making an appearance. Mainly because the idea amused me and I did use to do this when I had a tie in high school. Enjoy. **

"Target in sight. Move, move!" Emily ordered, holding up her weapon to draw fire on her target, her teammate ran forwards, crouching down to get the best aim. Once he was in position, Emily gave him the thumbs-up, their signal to attack their oblivious target.

"What the hell?" Hotch said as a barrage of Nerf bullets began hitting him or else shooting close by him and hitting the wall or sofa. The Nerf attack stopped and he could hear smothered laughter coming from the kitchen doorway. "Jack? Emily?"

"I'm not Jack!" Jack claimed as he jumped up from under the table, still clutching his Nerf blaster. Hotch smiled at his son who was wearing a white vest and his camo trousers. There was what looked to be red lipstick striped on his face and Hotch's red tie was knotted loosely around his hair.

"Really? Then who are you?" Hotch asked and Jack puffed up his chest, grinning.

"I'm Rambo and she's Mrs Rambo!" Jack claimed as Hotch turned to see Emily standing beside the fridge. Like Jack she was wearing a vest top but with her jeans however she also had one of Hotch's ties knotted around her head and similar lipstick markings on her face. Hotch grinned at her and Emily aimed her own Nerf gun at him.

"Don't laugh at me." Emily threatened before she shot him with a Nerf dart and walked over to loop an arm around Jack's skinny shoulders.

"I was going to say nice outfit." Hotch commented, flicking the ends of the tie that hung down to Emily's shoulders. "I think this is mine though."

"Not anymore, right Rambo?" Emily said to Jack.

"Right!" Jack replied as he gave her a high-five. "We were fighting the bad guys."

"And I'm a bad guy am I?" Hotch asked his son teasingly.

"We couldn't take any chances, could we?" Emily said, looking down at Jack who shook his head.

"Nope." Jack replied and Hotch nodded proudly at his son,

"I can't argue with that but I think you need to get washed up before dinner Rambo." Hotch said and Jack nodded, pushing the tie off his head.

"Ok Daddy." Jack replied and ran off towards the bathroom. Once he was out of sight, Emily walked over to her bag and pulled out a packet of make-up removal wipes and quickly removed the lipstick from her face before she removed the tie and began twisting it in her hands.

"Have fun?" Hotch asked and Emily smiled.

"Yeah, he's a good kid but he takes after you when it comes to shooting. Never seen a kid hit to many targets." Emily replied as Hotch laughed.

"It's a Hotchner thing." Hotch joked and Emily looked at him teasingly.

"So you can joke?" Emily teased.

"Every so often." Hotch replied and held out his hand. "Can I've that back?"

"Sure," Emily replied as she knotted the tie around his head just as Jack came out of the bathroom, his face also cleaned of the lipstick marks and the small boy laughed at his dad.

"Silly Daddy, you don't need to be a hero. You are one." Jack said causing Hotch to tightly hug his son and Emily smile at them; touched to have seen such a tender moment between father and son.

"Well this has been fun but I think I should be going." Emily said as she went and put on her jacket and picked up her bag.

"Are you sure?" Hotch asked and Emily nodded. "Thanks for babysitting, you didn't have to."

"It was my pleasure. We had fun didn't we Jack?" Emily said smiling at Jack who grinned and nodded.

"Yeah! Bye Emily," Jack said, waving at her. Emily smiled and waved back at him.

"I'll see you on Monday," Emily said to Hotch as he walked her to the door. However she'd barely gotten down the hall and out of earshot when Emily heard Jack offer an innocent but unexpected question.

"Is Emily gonna be your girlfriend Daddy?"


	7. Day 7: Cosplaying

**AN: In this Halloween costumes count as cosplaying as it's the only way I could make this work. **

"Are you nearly ready? You know what Garcia'll be like if we're late." Aaron called to Emily as he chased an already-hyper Jack around the living room. Haley had taken Jack trick-or-treating earlier with the agreement that Jack would only have a little bit of candy when she dropped him off at Aaron's apartment to spend the weekend with him. However he'd made the mistake of leaving the candy out when he went to get ready for Garcia's party.

The end result was a very small and hyper Captain America running around the apartment jumping on the furniture and claiming to fight the bad guys.

"Nearly ready!" Emily called back from the bathroom as Aaron caught Jack and lifted him up to eye-height.

"No more candy," Aaron warned and Jack pouted at him. "Alright, you can have a little bit when we go to Penelope's but no more because you'll be sick."

"Ok Daddy," Jack replied quietly as Aaron set him back down and fixed the cape he was wearing around his shoulders. He never usually dressed up on Halloween, hell most years the team were away on some case but this year there had been no cases and Garcia had jumped at the idea of throwing a Halloween party. Strictly costumes only and woe betide anyone who didn't go.

"Ready," Emily said as she finally emerged from the bedroom, shrugging on her purple jacket. "The makeup took ages to get right."

"You look great." Aaron complimented before he grinned at her. "Should I be saying that given the scars?"

"Wanna know how I got 'em?" Emily quoted with a smile as she kissed his cheek and they laughed as Jack pulled an 'ew' face at them. He liked Emily and didn't have a problem with her being his daddy's girlfriend but he was still a little boy and kissing was still gross to him.

"Ready to go Jack?" Aaron asked as he picked Jack up and Emily got her camera out of her purse "What?"

"I need pictures of this." Emily replied as she took one of Aaron lifting Jack up before getting them to pull traditional superhero poses before Aaron lifted Jack again so she could get into next picture.

"This one's going to be the best," Emily said as she held out her camera to get the three of them into the shot. "Batman, his son Captain America and his girlfriend the Joker."

"It's Halloween," Aaron replied before he kissed her on the cheek just as the picture took.


	8. Day 8: Shopping

**AN: Just a short one tonight because I am stressed as hell because of a stupid uni assignment and needed something short and fluffy. Enjoy. **

"Are you sure we'll need to buy all this?" Emily commented as she looked at the list in her hand. She could have sworn there wasn't so many things they needed to get.

"Let me see," Aaron replied as he took the list and scanned it. "We won't need these but the rest we'd have to buy."

Emily looked at the list which now had several items with a line through them. It did lighten the load a little bit but it still seemed a great deal to have to get. She wasn't complaining about shopping or the reason why this shopping trip was so important; it just seemed insane that so much was needed. Still, it needed to be done and the sooner it was the better,

"Ok," Emily replied smiling down at her slightly swollen stomach. "Lets go shopping for Baby."

**AN: Hotly Baby. Simply because I can. **


	9. Day 9: Hanging Out With Friends

**AN: There was a huge storm here where I live this evening and it inspired this; also because I've had a similar prank happen to my thanks to my 'lovely' best friends. **

"Are you serious?" Emily asked Aaron disbelievingly as the team stared at him. They'd all been busting their asses off on a long, tiring case and had been hoping to get home. The only problem was that whilst they had been stuck up in the bullpen all day, the heavens decided to open and unleash the biggest snow storm in recent years.

"What do you want me to do about it? As long as the roads are blocked, we're stuck here." Aaron replied and Morgan swore loudly.

"I'll have to call Will, tell him I won't be home." JJ said as she pulled out her phone and walked off to call Will.

"So what do we do then?" Emily asked the team at large. "Since we're stuck here, we may as well do something."

"I've an idea," Garcia suggested, smiling at them. "We'll just need some supplies first."

Half an hour later, after raiding the break room, cafeteria and both Aaron and Dave's offices for certain alcoholic drinks that technically weren't supposed to be there; the team decided to hole up in the conference room to wait out the storm. As they snacked on 'acquired' junk food and shared out the drinks, the conversation quickly turned into sharing some of their favourite stories either from their youth, college days or early days in the FBI.

"Remember the time we managed to scare Morgan by putting spiders in his hotel bed?" Reid asked the group at large, Emily and JJ laughed and Morgan shook his head.

"I wasn't scared." Morgan insisted.

"You so were." JJ argued. "My room was next to yours and you screamed like a little girl."

"That was just to convince you." Morgan countered.

"Of course it was." Emily said, jokingly patting his shoulder in a show of mock-sympathy.

"What about the time you and Cooper trashed Strauss' office for a prank?" Rossi asked Aaron as the team looked at their leader in shock.

"That was a long time ago," Aaron replied. "She still holds that over us."

"Didn't know you were a rebel," Emily said grinning at Aaron. "So why did you guys trash it?"

"I can't remember, we were just younger, bored and thought it'd be funny. Besides we didn't trash it, we just turned everything upside down. It took ages to do it right." Aaron recalled. He wasn't kidding, Strauss' old office wasn't as big as the one she had now, but it still took time and effort to turn the furniture upside-down and arrange everything in the right place.

"Sounds like fun," Emily commented. "Bet you couldn't do it now."

"Is that a challenge?" Aaron replied, the alcohol and overall relaxed mood he was feeling, being with the team and his girlfriend, just taking it easy and having a laugh for once was making him overlook the rules and implications of possibly pranking Strauss.

"I'm up for it." Derek laughed. "Her face on Monday would be worth it."

"Same," JJ added and Garcia nodded.

"We have to do this." Garcia insisted.

"I'm not sure," Reid said awkwardly but Rossi shook his head.

"Call it a team-building exercise." Rossi said as they got up and hurried out of the conference room. Luck was in their favour as the cleaner gad forgotten to lock Strauss' office door and the team quickly got to work. They overturned her desk and stacked the phone, files and computer back onto the now-revealed bottom of the desk, carefully balancing them so they remained upside-down. Emily and Aaron managed to heave the filing cabinet over whilst the large wooden cabinet itself was too big for them to move, the team settled for turning the drawers, folders and pictures on them around instead.

When it was done, the team took some photos of their handiwork before they returned back to the conference room. For the rest of the night, they sat up talking about anything and everything, snacking, having a few drinks and simply being a group of friends. They weren't chasing down serial killers or being heroes or even co-workers. That night, they were friends, a family and for a long time, it was one of the best nights-in, they'd had for a long time.

That was until on Monday when a furious Strauss stormed into the bullpen, tore the team a new one in front of everyone and slapped down the note that Emily had had scribbled when they had finished pulling their prank the other night.

Redecorating done courtesy of the BAU-Redecoration Team

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Emily dismissed with a shrug of her shoulders as the others laughed.


	10. Day 10: With Animal Ears

**AN: Hogwarts!AU because I can. Also it's assignment time so I am more disposed to insanity but to be fair, this was the only way I could make this prompt work.**

"Are you sure you should be doing this? I'm pretty sure there's other ways of practicing Transfiguration." Aaron said as he and Emily sat in the library surrounded by their homework. Aaron was working on his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay and Emily was reading over her notes on (of course) Transfiguration.

"Of course I am, besides I am top of the class for Transfiguration." Emily dismissed as she rummaged in her bag for her wand.

"I still say this will end badly." Aaron commented and Emily rolled her eyes.

"You really have so much faith in me Aaron. I'm touched." Emily said sarcastically as she looked at the book to check the spell before waving her wand. A loud bang and purple smoke burst out of her wand, prompting the other students and Madam Pince to glare at them.

"Nice one." Aaron coughed, waving his arm to clear the smoke before he saw Emily and pressed his fist to his mouth.

"What?" Emily asked self-consciously. "Have I something on my face?"

Aaron, not trusting himself to speak without laughing, pointed to the top of her head. Emily frowned and ran her hands up her hair. Hair. Hair. What the...? What were those?

"What is going on ov-?" Madam Pince asked, storming over to the Seventh Year and stopping short when she spotted Emily. "Miss Prentiss what have you done to yourself?"

"Um, spell backfire." Emily replied awkwardly as Aaron shoved their books, parchment, quills and inks back into their respective bags; having finally calmed down.

"We're going to go to Professor McGonagall now. Sorry about the noise." Aaron said politely to the still annoyed looking librarian as Emily pulled her cloak over her head and the two students quickly left the library, the other students staring at them as they passed. Once they were in the empty corridor, Emily took her cloak off her head and they hurried towards the stairs to go down to the Transfiguration department.

"So the best in the class are you?" Aaron joked and Emily glared at him. "You look like Sergio."

"And you look like someone who's going to be dumped if he's not careful." Emily retorted as she absent-mindedly began scratching her new cat ears. It felt strangely nice. Emily realised what she was doing and quickly stopped as Aaron smiled at her. He had to admit, Emily did look strangely cute with the dark cat ears.

Aaron put an arm around her shoulders as they came to the bottom of the stairs. "Come on, let's find Professor McGonagall."


	11. Day 11: Wearing Onesies

**AN: The prompt for this is basically onesies and I wrote a teen!AU because I wanted to. **

"I genuinely am sick this time." Emily croaked at her mother as she lay on the sofa, shivering despite being wrapped in a blanket and wearing her fluffy red onesie.

"I don't believe you, I know when you're pretending Emily now go and get ready otherwise we'll be late." Elizabeth replied, sighing at her teenage daughter. She knew Emily too well to know when she was faking sick and it was simply childish.

"I'm not, really I'm-" Emily stopped as her stomach lurched. Scrambling to her feet, she ran to the bathroom and locked the door behind her. Elizabeth followed her daughter and did her best not to grimace as she heard Emily retching loudly before flushing the toilet. A few minutes later, Emily opened the door and leaned against the doorframe looking more pale and drawn than she did before.

"Believe me now?" Emily asked weakly and her mother nodded at her.

"Very well, go to bed and I'll see you tomorrow." Elizabeth said. this was a highly important function and it was vital that she and her husband attended. She supposed that since Emily was genuinely ill this time, she could miss out on going.

"Ok," Emily replied and on unsteady legs, made her way up the stairs and to her bedroom. Once in the privacy of her room, Emily grinned and dived for her personal landline phone and punched in Aaron's number.

"All systems go. Pick me up at the end of the block at ten." Emily said and hung up the phone before quickly changing out of her onesie and into a pair of jeans and her favourite top. She had tried to curb her habit of faking sick in order to sneak out at night but sometimes, well, needs must.


	12. Day 12: Making Out

**AN: It's past midnight where I am but my assignment's had me swamped so better late than never. Enjoy.**

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Rossi asked as he stood in the doorway of Aaron's office. Aaron and Emily jumped apart and turned to look at him, their cheeks growing scarlet as he smirked at the two agents who were sat on the sofa in Aaron's office. Their arms were still around each other but both were carefully avoiding the other's gaze.

"We thought you'd gone." Aaron said quickly, their embarrassment at being caught, rapidly being replaced by annoyance at the knowing smirk on his best friend's face. Of course it _would_ have been Dave who caught them.

"Clearly, take my advice kids, if you can't keep your hands to yourselves then make sure you're alone. Or the blinds are down." Rossi commented as Aaron glared at him and Emily looked at him coolly. Hey if they were willing to act like a pair of horny teenagers, then he was willing to treat them as such.

"You're hilarious." Emily retorted sarcastically. Rossi shook his head knowingly at the two of them and still smirking, walked out of Aaron's office and down towards the bullpen.

"Remember if you can't be good, be careful." Rossi warned and Emily looked at Aaron.

"We could make it look like an accident." Emily suggested and Aaron laughed, shaking his head.

"He'll be fine," Aaron dismissed as he grinned at Emily. "Now where were we?"


	13. Day 13: Eating Ice-Cream

**AN: This is based on a legit ice-cream recipe from when I used to work part-time in a restaurant before I started uni. **

"What are you doing?" Emily asked, watching as Aaron and Jack stood at the kitchen counter, surrounded by what would be any kid's dream. Different biscuit brands, sweets and tubs of ice-cream were sitting on the table next to a massive mixing bowl.

"Making Mega Ice-cream," Aaron replied as Jack crushed some Oreos and threw them into the bowl before adding a full packet of Skittles.

"Looks like Diabetes in a Bowl." Emily replied; the different flavours of ice-cream coupled with what looked like M&amp;Ms, Smarties, caramel bars, Skittles, Oreos and plain biscuits made for an 'interesting' looking concoction. From what she could tell, judging by the cartons around her, there was at least some vanilla and strawberry ice-cream in the mixture.

"It's special." Jack insisted, looking at his dad. "Isn't it Daddy?"

"It's an old family recipe actually. Me and Sean invented it as kids." Aaron explained to Emily who gave the bowl another look. On closer inspection, it didn't look too bad.

"What does it taste like?" Emily asked curiously.

"Glad you asked, it's nearly done. We just need one more thing don't we Jack?" Aaron asked, smiling at Jack who grinned back.

"Sprinkles!" Jack said excitedly, grabbing the jar of sprinkles and emptying a good half of it into the bowl. Once he was content with the amount of sprinkles, Aaron mixed up the bowl's contents before scooping generous portions into the bowls he and Jack had already set out on the table. The three of them took their spoons and whilst Aaron and Jack dug in, Emily carefully scooped up a spoonful and tasted it.

"Well?" Aaron asked and Emily smiled.

"It's really nice but almost too sweet." Emily commented as she took another spoonful.

"You're still eating it," Aaron pointed out.

"I didn't say it was a bad thing." Emily countered as she glanced at Jack who was eating his at a much faster pace. "Isn't it going to make him go hyper?"

"Jack's only allowed one bowl, right buddy?" Aaron replied to Jack who stopped eating long enough to nod before continuing to devour his ice cream.

"Alright then," Emily said as the three of them sat and ate their ice-cream. She had to admit, despite feeling as though her teeth would rot out of her head; the sugary, sweet, chocolaty concoction was definitely one she would have to remember.


	14. Day 14: GenderBent

**AN: So this prompt was an interesting one, gender-bent. I'd never written anything like that before but it's actually not that hard. **

"Are you alright Ethan?" Anna Hotchner asked her agent who jumped slightly before turning and smiling at her.

"Yeah I'm fine." Ethan Prentiss replied and gestured to the mountain of paperwork before him. "I just wish this would vanish on me."

"Look at my workload and be grateful with what you have." Anna retorted before looking at her boyfriend with concern. "Are you sure everything's ok?"

"Everything's fine Anna," Ethan repeated, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear and smirked at the sharp look Anna gave him. "Nobody's here remember."

"I know, just don't want anymore 'surprises'." Anna commented, thinking about what had happened a few weeks beforehand when they had been caught kissing in Anna's office and Ethan laughed.

"It wasn't that bad. Anyway you should head home and see Jack,that work's still going to be here tomorrow." Ethan said and Anna rolled her eyes.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Anna said and Ethan smiled again at her. She really was beautiful, but it wasn't just Anna's beauty that attracted him to her. She was intelligent, brave, a strong leader and devoted to her young son Jack, whom she raised as a single parent after her ex-husband Harry was killed the previous year. Ever since Ethan had joined the BAU, he and Anna had been good friends and only got together a few months ago. So far they had kept their relationship a mostly-hidden secret and the only person who knew was Dave who had been the one who caught them but he had agreed to keep it secret after Ethan vowed to shoot him and Anna gave him one of her infamous death glares.

"Go on, I'm going to leave now anyway. You should go." Ethan said and Anna smiled at her. She had to admit, Ethan was a good influence on her, she felt better when she was with him; not so stressed or stoic all the time. He made her happy in a way she hadn't been in a long time.

"Alright you twisted my arm. Happy now?" Anna tested as Ethan smiled at her.

"Very, now go." Ethan said, kissing her cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure you don't want to come back, Jack would like to see you." Anna suggested and Ethan considered it before shaking his head.

"Not tonight, it's a bit late after all." Ethan said, looking at his watch. It was almost half eight and he knew it would be nearing Jack's bedtime. Also there was something important he had to do first.

"Alright," Anna replied. If she was disappointed, she hid it well and turned to head back to her office to grab her bag as Ethan pulled on his jacket and got ready to leave. A few minutes later, they got into the elevator and walked hand in hand towards their cars. Ethan kissed Anna again before they got into their own cars; Anna heading back to her apartment and Ethan into the city centre.

As a distant clock struck half past ten, Ethan did his best not to jump as a hand rested on his back. Quickly masking his shock, Ethan stared straight ahead. "I knew you were watching me."

"What's that expression? Keep your friends close and your enemies under surveillance?" The Irishwoman replied as she walked past Ethan and sat at the other end of the table, keeping her cold blue eyes fixed on Ethan.

"I've been here for two hours, you should know better than to keep a gentleman waiting." Ethan replied, showing no emotion as he looked at the woman he hadn't seen in so long. A woman he had hoped to never see again. A woman who was bloodthirsty, dangerous and wanted him dead.

The woman almost smiled as she sat down. "Seems hypocritical, seeing as I've had to wait seven years."

Ethan stared the woman in the face, not breaking eye contact and showing no fear at the woman who could destroy his entire world in an instant. "Hello Aoife."

Aoife Doyle looked at Ethan coldly in retaliation. "Hello Laurence."

**AN: Before my essay overtook my entire existence, I was re-watching series 6 and had gotten up to just before the Doyle saga begins, hence why you get a genderbent Doyle in there too. Also for those who don't know, Aoife is an Irish name pronounced Ee-Fah**


	15. Day 15: Different Clothing Style

**AN: I had very few ideas for this so just settled for this. Enjoy.**

After having three cases in the space of three weeks consecutively, the BAU had finally been granted some time off. The B team were ready to take any cases that came up and the team found themselves with a full three days off to spend however they wanted to.

For Aaron and Emily that meant having a lazy day at Emily's apartment. they were laying on Emily's sofa, still in their pyjamas and watching TV. Given that there was very little daytime TV that was worth watching and neither of them even felt like getting changed out of their pyjamas, Aaron in an old t-shirt and track pants and Emily in a vest top and track pants; they were content to lie up together and watch TV.

"Why are we even watching this?" Aaron asked as 'Days Of Our Lives' came on.

"Remote's on the table." Emily replied lazily before looking at the screen. "Hey doesn't he look a bit like Morgan?"

Aaron looked at the screen and laughed. "Yeah, only he's got hair."

"Hmm, remind me what Morgan said he did before he joined the BAU." Emily joked as she lay back on the sofa and Aaron placed his arm around her waist as they enjoyed a quiet, peaceful pyjama day in front of the TV.

**AN: As a student, I will point out that PJ days like that are the best. **


	16. Day 16: Morning Rituals

**AN: So I've passed the halfway point on this and I've been really enjoying it and I hope you guys have all enjoyed it too.**

Their morning rituals tended to vary given the understandably different circumstances that tended to arise when two FBI agents were in a relationship.

When they were on a case, then they kept away from each other. They had separate hotel rooms and kept focused on the job at hand. However they always made sure to grab breakfast or coffee together before heading into the police station to continue working to catch their latest UnSub. They knew that when they were working, they had to stay professional but at the same time, they made sure to grab a few moments together in the mornings

When they weren't working, they would alternate between staying at either Aaron or Emily's place. Obviously the majority of times they stayed together it was at Aaron's and Jack was usually the basis for their morning rituals. Not that there was anything wrong with that; the only person who was more important to both of them was the young boy. With both of them being prone to nightmares sometimes, more often than not, they woke up in each other's arms and they were always woken by one of their alarm clocks going off and whilst Emily was more tempted to hit the snooze button, Aaron was the first one up in order to get dressed before he got Jack up for school. Five minutes later the alarm would go again and Emily would get up, grab a quick shower and dress before joining Aaron and Jack in the kitchen. After having their breakfast, they would leave Jack to school before heading to the BAU for whatever deranged UnSub was going to be thrown at them next.

It was surprisingly domesticated but they didn't have a problem with that. Not just because it gave them some normality in their insane world but being so domestic with each other wasn't so bad. Because really, was it so bad?


	17. Day 17: Spooning

_Every part of her body ached. Her breast was on fire from the brand, blood was flowing from almost every part of her face, her limbs were crying in agony as she lay on the filthy warehouse floor, unable to move. She'd never felt pain like this before; beaten and broken and helpless; completely at the mercy of the man standing above her. The man who once loved her who now despised her and wanted her dead; once again their feelings for each other were mutual. She was at his mercy and the one thing he did not have was mercy. _

"_See you in hell Lauren." Ian Doyle said as he shoved the wooden stake into her stomach. She'd been wrong, __**this**__ was agony unlike any she'd felt before. As he twisted the wooden stake, she was unable to fight him and the last line of defence she had; her refusal to scream and show how scared and pain she felt left her. He smirked as she screamed and writhed on the floor, trying to free herself but she couldn't. There was so much blood and she was in so much pain and she was dying and all she could do was scream and scream and scream._

"Emily, Emily wake up!"

Emily jerked awake, breathing heavily as she felt dampness on her cheeks. As her breathing slowed down again, she felt herself calm down. She wasn't in that warehouse, she was in her bed and Doyle was dead. She was safe. Emily dragged a hand across her cheeks and looked to see Aaron sitting up beside her; an understanding expression on his face.

"Doyle." Aaron said and Emily nodded.

"Warehouse." Emily replied, absentmindedly running her hand over the large scar that both marked her as victim and survivor. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I understand." Aaron said. Normally Emily would dismiss such a comment but there was no point arguing Aaron. Out of everyone she knew, he did understand her nightmares better. Not through a lack of understanding on everyone else's part but because that higher level of understanding that had always existed between them.

"You still get nightmares about Foyet." Emily stated and Aaron pulled her into his arms.

"Yes I do but they're dead. They wanted to hurt and kill us but they lost. We survived and we won and we're alive." Aaron said, pressing a kiss into Emily's hair. "I know that doesn't stop the nightmares but,"

"It helps." Emily finished; it sounded stupid but the simple knowledge that their demons were dead did help ease the panic after a nightmare or stop bad memories when they threatened to arise in the day. They were survivors.

"Feeling better?" Aaron asked and Emily nodded and lay back down in the bed. Aaron followed suit and Emily rolled onto her side. She took hold of Aaron's arm and curled it around her waist. Aaron shifted slightly so that he was right up behind her. He could feel her hair against his face and the rough scarred skin under his arm. Aaron knew not to question it; it was what happened when one of them had a nightmare. The only way they were able to ease their minds back into sleep was the feeling of the other in their arms, being held so close together that it was hard to tell when one of them ended and the other began. It was reassurance; reassurance that they were safe, that they weren't alone and that they were loved.

Aaron tightened his hold on Emily and mouthed a confession into her hair before sleep overtook him again too.


	18. Day 18: Doing Something Together

**AN: I've recorded my drunk friends too many times.**

Emily rubbed her eyes and sighed deeply. Across from her, Aaron looked up from the book he was reading and gave her a knowing look.

"Can't sleep either?" Aaron asked and Emily nodded. There were usually two reactions to a long, difficult case; either the team fell asleep straight away for the whole journey home or their bodies were still so over-stimulated and over-caffeinated that sleep eluded them. This one had been a hard one; a team were abducting and killing women in San Diego and by the time the BAU were called in, they had twelve dead bodies and another one missing. Luckily they managed to eventually crack the case and save the missing woman in time but even so, it was hard to rest as they flew back across the country.

"No, I'm just at point where I'm so tired that I'm not tired anymore." Emily replied as she stretched back as best she could in her seat. The rest of the team were scattered throughout the jet and sleeping peacefully; exhausted by the last case.

"Morgan, move that llama…"

So much for sleeping peacefully. Aaron and Emily looked up to see Reid lying on his back, a frown on his face as he mumbled in his sleep.

"Reid?" Aaron said carefully, not wanting to wake the younger agent but still curious to see if there was any reaction from him. Emily however quietly slipped her phone out of her pocket and started to record the two agent's interactions. This was going to be good.

"Hotch tell Morgan to move the llama," Reid muttered and Aaron looked at Emily.

"Don't record that." Aaron said and Emily shook her head, smiling at him.

"Where is the llama Reid?" Emily asked, trying not to laugh. She had to admit, it was quite cute watching Reid sleep-talk about llamas.

"In the bullpen," Reid answered, rolling onto his side. "We need it but it's at my desk."

Aaron was smiling now. "Why do we need a llama Reid?" Aaron asked; it was like talking to a sleepy drunk.

"It can take us to Narnia. I like Narnia. Can we go to Narnia?" Reid rambled sleepily. Aaron and Emily pressed their hands to their mouths, desperate to hold back their laughter to prevent Reid from waking up. They had to admit that the situation was funny but on the other hand, it did just prove the point that even when he was sleeping, Reid still could talk for America.

"Yes Reid, we can go to Narnia," Aaron said as Emily laughed, grateful she was getting video evidence of Reid's sleepy adoration of llamas.

"Yay," Reid said before he rolled over again and began snoring lightly. Emily stopped video-recording and grinned at Aaron who smiled back at her. They had to admit, there was probably something morally wrong about recording someone sleep-talking but they had to admit it was funny. And altogether not too different from recording someone's drunken rambling.

When the jet landed, the team woke up, stretched and Aaron and Emily exchanged a look as Reid woke up.

"Have a good sleep Reid?" Emily asked and Reid looked confused before shrugged his shoulders.

"I'd a really good night sleep, why do you ask?" Reid asked and Aaron and Emily looked at each other, hiding smiles from the rest of the team

"No reason." Aaron replied.


	19. Day 19: Formal Wear

**AN: Just a short one as I've another essay to do. The joys of being a uni student.**

"Where you going Daddy?" Jack asked Aaron as he watched his father fix his bow tie around his neck.

"It's a special work dinner." Aaron replied as he gave Jack a hug. "That means Jess is going to come and babysit tonight."

"OK," Jack replied as he turned back to the TV. A few minutes later, Jess came and as Aaron let her in, he turned towards the bathroom and called for Emily who was still getting ready.

"Give me a second." Emily called and Aaron smiled at Jess and Jack before he called back to her.

"You said that half an hour ago!" Aaron joked, causing Jack to giggle and Jess to smile. She was pleased that Aaron and Jack were able to find happiness after Haley died; it felt good to see them with smiles on their faces and Emily definitely did that.

"Alright I'm ready, happy now?" Emily quipped as she walked out of the bathroom. Her hair was carefully curled to the side, falling over her right shoulder and she was wearing a floor-length strapless red dress. Jess smiled at Aaron, leaning over to close his slack mouth as Jack grinned at her.

"You look really pretty Emily." Jack complimented and Emily hugged him.

"Thanks sweetie, you ready to go?" Emily asked Aaron who smiled at her and offered her his arm.

"Lets go," Aaron said. "We'll be back later."

"Ok, have a good night." Jess said and Jack waved at them.

"Bye," Jack called as the door closed behind Aaron and Emily.

"You look beautiful," Aaron complimented as they got into his car. Emily leaned across the seat and kissed him cheek.

"You don't look so bad yourself," Emily replied. "Come on, let's get this night over with."


	20. Day 20: Dancing

**AN: Like many H/P shippers, I do have the headcanon that Hotch and Emily were friends during the time he worked for her mother before they were both part of the BAU.**

JJ and Will's wedding wasn't the first time they danced. Not even close. They'd known each other for a long time and over the years they'd known each other on and off, they had danced together on many occasions.

The first time they'd danced had been during the summer of 91 when Aaron worked for Ambassador Prentiss and Emily had been home from Yale. A summer party was being held at the Prentiss place and before Emily could escape up to her room, she had to be seen dancing and socialising for a few minutes. Therefore she'd asked Aaron, who was working, to dance with her and that was it. A quick spin around the dance floor and they were done.

The second time had been not long after she'd joined the BAU. After a really rough case, they had all gone to a bar, got totally hammered and basically took over the dance floor. That had been a good night, one where they just had fun and were friends, not FBI agents.

After that, there were just different occasions when they would dance together. Sometimes it would be in a bar with the rest of the team, sometimes it would just be the two of them dancing to music when they were hanging out at each other's apartments. One night's dancing that did stick out was not long after Haley's death. Emily had gone around to Aaron's apartment to see how he and Jack were coping; Jack was asleep and she and Aaron sat talking about anything and everything. Their friendship had moved past the point where it was alright to discuss whatever was on their minds. When the conversation ended, Emily decided to put on some music, quietly as not to wake Jack and simply held out a hand to Aaron. Neither of them said anything, they just held onto each other and swayed to the music, relishing in the comfort of knowing support was there.

They were so used to dancing with each other, so familiar with knowing how well they were able to dance together that neither of them had any problem dancing with one another at JJ's wedding. They also knew the importance of their dance; indeed the importance of Emily having danced with all of them.

It wasn't the first time Aaron and Emily danced with each other.

But it also wouldn't be the last.


	21. Day 21: Baking

"Something smells awesome." Emily commented as Aaron let her into the apartment. Ever since she'd come back from Paris, they'd gotten into the habit, cases permitting, of spending time at one another's apartments. Whilst their relationship wasn't the same as it had been before Doyle turned their lives upside down, it was getting there.

"We've been busy." Aaron replied, leading her into the kitchen where Jack was stirring a mixing bowl. The kitchen looked like a mini-bakery with flour, eggs, chocolate chips and milk everywhere and what looked like trays of cookies in the oven.

"I can see, I didn't know you can bake." Emily said, giving Jack a hug, mindful of the flour he'd scattered onto his t-shirt.

"Sean's not the only one who knows his way around the kitchen." Aaron said. "Jack's school is having a bake sale for their soccer team."

"And the parents are all roped in to help." Emily finished, smiling as she helped Jack scoop the cookie dough into the containers to go into the over. Jack glanced at his dad before quickly running his finger around the bowl to scoop up some of the mixture. Emily smiled at did the same, catching Aaron's eye and he playfully aimed the spatula at her.

"I saw that," Aaron joked as the oven beeped and he pulled one batch out and Jack handed him the next tray. Emily smirked at him and scraped some flour into her hand.

"You saw nothing." Emily said as she threw the flour at him. Jack laughed as Aaron looked at Emily before putting his hand into the bag of flour. Emily shrieked as the flour hit her in the face and Jack shook the flour that landed in his hair.

"It's on!" Emily said, reaching over to grab the bag of sugar off the side and threw some at Aaron. Jack scooped up some flour and sugar that landed on the table and threw it up. Aaron looked at his son, pretending to be betrayed.

"I thought you were on my team Jack," Aaron joked and Emily grinned at him.

"Nope, me and Jack have always been a team right?" Emily said, offering her hand for Jack to high-five and Aaron shook his head, smiling at them.

"Of course you have, Jack why don't you wash up and we'll start to clear this mess." Aaron said. Jack ran off to the bathroom and he and Emily began clearing away the bowls, jugs and equipment used for the baking as well as the ingredients. As she placed the bowls into the sink, Emily felt something hit her back and she reached her arm around to feel some more flour.

"Seriously?" Emily asked as Aaron looked at her innocently as he placed the bags of flour and sugar into the cupboard.

"Sorry," Aaron apologised and Emily smiled at him, shaking her head and watching some of the flour dislodge itself.

"Don't be, by the looks of it you boys were having fun." Emily said casually. "When I was younger I used to hate Home Economics, I burnt everything I made."

"Really? You wouldn't think that." Aaron replied; they were all good cooks, well skilled enough to ensure they didn't give themselves food poisoning on a daily basis.

"Yeah, I guess it also didn't help that most of the time I was still learning the language of whatever place we were living in so naturally instructions tended to get lost in translation." Emily explained, thinking about the numerous teachers who yelled at her in French, Arabic, Italian, Spanish. Not that fun really.

"I can see how that wouldn't help." Aaron said. "You could help us properly next time something like this comes up."

"I think I will," Emily said with a smile as she hugged Aaron. It wasn't much but it was a sign that things were slowly starting to get better again. One flour fight at a time.


	22. Day 22: In Battle

**AN: I missed it yesterday because I was travelling home for the Easter break but as I want to finish it, here's the next one. Albeit late**

"Get down!" Aaron said, grabbing Emily by the waist and pulling her to the floor. a second later a bullet hole was in the wall directly where her head had been.

"Son of a-" Emily swore as she and Aaron carefully got up and drew their guns in order to take down their latest unsub. A spree shooter had gone on a rampage in a small Ohioan town and the two of them had gone to question a possible suspect. Only the 'possible suspect' decided that rather than co-operate with them, it was better to start a firefight.

It was days like this that seriously made them question their career choices.

"Cameron Jones, FBI, put the gun down!" Aaron called to their unsub who shook his head but stopped firing.

"I'm not going back to jail!" Jones yelled as Aaron and Emily kept their guns trained on him.

"You killed thirteen people but you drop the gun and come with us, we'll make sure you don't get the death penalty." Emily said as she and Aaron took cautious steps forward. Jones seemed to consider their offer before shaking his head resolutely.

"No," Jones said, aiming his gun at Aaron's head. Moments later he was lying on the ground, bleeding out as Emily called the rest of the team to come with police and EMT's. Aaron checked his pulse but Jones was dead, he shook his head at Emily who quickly relayed the information to Morgan.

"Just another day at the office huh?" Emily said in a deadpan voice as they stood outside the warehouse they had chased their unsub too. Aaron shook his head resignedly but a brief smile did flicker across his face as he considered Emily's words.

Another day at the office? Yeah pretty much.


	23. Day 23: Fighting

**AN: Set between 'Nameless, Faceless' and '100'**

Aaron and Emily were known to have their fair share of disagreements. Those ranged from playful bickering about things like whether Mark Hamill or Heath Ledger played a better version of The Joker. Debates about what was right or wrong when working a case; or the occasional semi-serious argument when one challenged the other about certain choices made. All in all, these arguments and disagreements never had any real effect on the team or their friendship with each other; ultimately they were conflicts of opinion and when they cooled down; a rational answer was found.

Then there days like today when World War Three broke out.

Morgan, JJ and Reid walked out of the elevator, having come back from lunch and stopped at the sight of several agents standing outside the bullpen, including Rossi. As they walked over, they could hear muffled yelling coming from inside the bullpen with Aaron and Emily nowhere to be seen.

"Rossi, what's going on?" Morgan asked as JJ stood on her toes to see over the heads and through the glass doors.

"Is that Hotch and Emily?" JJ questioned as she spotted the two agents standing at opposite ends of the bullpen, both scarlet in the face and roaring furiously at one another.

"Yes and before you ask, no none of us are getting involved." Rossi stated calmly. His tone of voice a stark contrast to the yelling inside the bullpen.

"What are they yelling about?" Reid asked and his question was answered for him a few seconds later.

"THEN YOU'LL END UP DEAD! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?" Emily yelled furiously across the bullpen. She was actually trembling with anger and her fists were clenched at her side as though she were ready to run across the room and punch Aaron in the face.

"OF COURSE IT'S NOT!" Aaron bellowed back, his almost trademark stoicism given way to pure rage was something that none of them had ever seen before and it was terrifying to see him lose control like this.

"COULD'VE FOOLED ME!" Emily retorted and as she looked at Aaron, she felt her temper falter and she shook her head. "You know what, forget it. If you want to get yourself killed to try and prove some point then you do that."

Before Aaron could retort, Emily turned and walked out of the bullpen, the agents standing outside the door quickly moving out of her way. Aaron stormed up to his office, slamming the door loudly behind him. the rest of the team led the agents back into the bullpen and looked at one another before glancing up at Aaron's office just as he pulled the blinds down.

"Should we try and talk to them?" JJ suggested but Morgan shook his head.

"Let them work it out on their own." Morgan replied carefully even though he knew both Aaron and Emily must have been aware they all heard their screaming match. One of the others could try and talk to either Aaron or Emily but Morgan wasn't going to attempt either suicide mission.

"Are you sure?" Reid asked unsurely as they heard something heavy hit Aaron's wall with a loud bang.

"You want to go up there?" Rossi asked Reid who quickly shook his head. "Didn't think so. They'll sort it out themselves."

_BANG! _

"I hope."


	24. Day 24: Making Up Afterwards

**AN: This is the follow up to yesterday's prompt, hope you enjoy it.**

Approximately an hour after having stormed out of the BAU bullpen, a significantly calmer Emily walked back through the glass doors and headed straight for Aaron's office. Down in the bullpen, Morgan and Reid exchanged a look as Emily knocked, hesitated and walked in.

"I said 'go away'." Aaron's voice came from the far side of the room. Emily squinted through the darkness and flicked on the lights. The dull florescent lights illuminated the room and drew her attention momentarily to the large books that were lying on the floor; clearly having been thrown at the wall with great force. Emily turned to see Aaron sitting on the floor; his head in his hands and his knees drawn up to his chest.

He didn't look angry anymore. Now he just looked broken.

"Hey," Emily said as she sat down on the floor beside him. For a moment there was silence between them, unsure of what to say or who was to speak first.

"I'm sorry," Aaron said quietly. "It's just everything that's been going on."

"I understand, it's not just losing contact with Haley and Jack but it's the not knowing that really drives you insane. You're just waiting for the next thing to happen but that's how he works. He's trying to break you mentally before he tries to break you physically." Emily said and Aaron nodded. He didn't know how much more of this he would be able to take. It had been over two months since Foyet attacked him and he was just waiting for another ambush or a taunting phone call. Or worse.

"I know he is. It feels like I can't do anything; I can't protect them when I don't even know where they are. I can't stop Foyet as I don't know where the hell he is. He waited ten years before killing again and who's to say he won't wait ten more. This is all a game to him." Aaron said, feeling his temper spike not because of Emily but for his pure hatred towards Foyet. He felt as though if Foyet were in the room right now then he could easily tear him apart with his bare hands. If it meant protecting his family and his team then he wouldn't hesitate.

"This is what I was trying to say earlier; Foyet may see this as a game but that just means we're going to have to level the playing field. We know who and what he is. We'll find him and we'll stop him. It's not just you who feels like this Aaron. We all hate him and we all want to bring him down. Hell, if you said the word any of us would gladly take him down." Emily said as she reached over and took one of his hands in hers and squeezed it tightly.

"Sometimes it just seems impossible." Aaron confessed. Even though he had temporarily stepped down as team leader, he knew there was still immense pressure on his capabilities to do his job as an agent; they had all possible information gathered on Foyet but still no closer to tracking him down; it just seemed like they were all just waiting for the inevitable.

"Just because it seems impossible, doesn't mean it is. Even if it was, you need to sort yourself out. Risking your own neck or getting yourself killed won't lure him out and you're not going through this alone. You have all of us and like Garcia would say; we're not just a team, we're a family. That means we stick together, have each other's back and if someone goes after one of us then they have to deal with all of us." Emily explained reassuringly, meaning every word. She would gladly lay down her life for any member of the team and she knew they would all do the same for her. At the same time, part of her could understand Aaron wanting to try and go it alone. If some psychotic killer was after her personally and threatening the lives of everyone she loved then she could also see herself trying to take him down solo.

Hopefully that situation wouldn't arise.

"Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind. Or forgotten." Aaron quoted before noticing the confused look on Emily's face. "It's from _'Lilo and Stitch'_. Jack loves that movie."

"I see," Emily replied. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have yelled at you but I was just trying to get you to understand that we are all here for you."

"It's OK, I think sometimes I need that extra kick up the backside." Aaron said and Emily smiled at him.

"I'm not arguing with that." Emily joked and for the first time in what felt like forever, Aaron smiled.

"Thanks." Aaron said sarcastically. "So I take it none of the others wanted to come up here."

"I guess not. Besides they probably think we've killed each other by now." Emily joked half-heartedly.

"Guess we better go and reassure them otherwise." Aaron said as he got off the floor and helped Emily to her feet. Once they were standing, he suddenly hugged her tightly. "I am sorry," he whispered.

"So am I," Emily replied as she took a step back. "But like I said, we're in together. No matter what."

"No matter what." Aaron agreed.


	25. Day 25: Staring Into Each Other's Eyes

**AN: Hmm, I could make this really romantic or really silly. Well…**

"What are you doing?" Rossi asked the two agents who were both sitting upright at either side of the small table on the jet, pointedly staring at one another.

"Having a staring contest." Emily replied without breaking eye contact with Aaron, despite the watering sensation in her eyes caused by her refusal to blink.

"We can see that but why?" Morgan asked and Aaron lightly shrugged his shoulders.

"Why not?" Aaron retorted as he and Emily kept trying to stare each other out. There had been no need or decision to start the staring contest; it was just the result of boredom really.

Rossi and Morgan looked at each other before Rossi suddenly clapped his hands in front of Aaron's face; causing him to blink. Emily laughed and high-fived Morgan as Aaron thumped Rossi's arm playfully.

"I win!" Emily gloated.

"That's cheating." Aaron claimed, shooting a glare at a smirking Rossi. "I demand a rematch."

"Bring it on." Emily said, rubbing her eyes. "On the count of three. One, two, three!"

The two agents resumed their staring match and Rossi and Morgan exchanged a look. Sometimes when it came to Aaron and Emily, it was better not to get involved.


	26. Day 26: Getting Married

**AN: This is a pretty good prompt but I couldn't think of how to do this one, so this appeared.**

It was funny how things turned out. How things would change in almost an instant. How darkness became light; how happiness replaced sorrow and how love emerged from a time of hatred and fear. It was a sign of a new beginning, new hope and a brighter tomorrow.

All metaphors and romanticism aside; if either Aaron or Emily had been told when they met that one day they would marry each other; both would have probably either laughed in your face or asked if and how much you had been drinking.

What were they doing today?

Getting married.

It had admittedly been a slow building romance, their friendship evolved from being teammates to friends to best friends to eventually lovers. In between all of that however there was one divorce, two changes to the team, a bombing, two of them being held hostage by a cult leader, who beat Emily almost to a pulp, demons from both their pasts coming back to haunt them including an insane serial killer targeting Aaron and his family, said killer murdering someone they cared about and a large amount of other stuff that really set romance onto the back burner.

However it was by helping and supporting one another through each and every difficult time and hardship that brought Aaron and Emily closet together; that helped them to realise that they were more than friends and that life was too short, too fragile for them not to at least give their feelings a chance. That chance came in the form of a date which led to a kiss which led to a second date which led to a relationship which led to a proposal which led to today with them getting married.

It wasn't a conventional love story but it was theirs and as they stood at the altar, exchanging vows and rings in front of their family and friends; neither of them would have had it any other way.


	27. Day 27: One Of Their Birthdays

**AN: This is a late update but its also a very relevant one as today April 16****th**** is my 20****th**** birthday! Happy birthday to me!**

With their jobs; the travelling, heavy workload and rare days off; it was always more likely than not that the team would be working a case, leaving for a case, coming back from one when it was one of their birthdays. Today was no exception and it was Emily's birthday that had been overtaken by work.

The team had just finished a case in Sarasota and had spent the entire day working on finding, catching and arresting their unsub and by the end of it were too tired to do anything. Even Emily just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep. On their way back to the hotel, her and JJ talked about going out that Friday night to celebrate but even planning that felt like far too much effort; they were that tired.

As the exhausted BAU team made their way to their hotel rooms, eager to just crash out on their beds, Aaron and Emily made their way to their rooms at the end of the corridor. As they unlocked their doors, Aaron turned to Emily and gave her a small smile before he walked over and kissed her cheek.

"Happy birthday Emily." Aaron said before disappearing into his room. Emily waited until he shut the door before reaching up to touch her cheek. That had been unexpected.

"Thanks," Emily muttered to herself before she entered her room and literally face-planted the bed. She'd think about that tomorrow, right now, she was going to sleep.


	28. Day 28: Doing Something Ridiculous

**AN: So this prompt asked for something ridiculous and the first thing that came to mind was this.**

"Who will we get tonight?" Emily asked as she and Aaron sat on his sofa, the cordless phone lying on the coffee table in front of them. Aaron thought for a moment before smirking at his girlfriend.

"Dave; he's been getting too cocky ever since he worked out about us." Aaron said and Emily grinned before lightly shrugging her shoulders.

"Well if he calls spying on us 'working out the truth' then I judge his abilities as a profiler." Emily commented as Aaron picked up the phone. "So what are you going to do?"

"This," Aaron replied as he got up and headed towards Jack's bedroom. Emily could hear him rustling about before he emerged a few minutes later holding what appeared to be a normal spray can in his hand. That was until Emily spotted the lid and burst out laughing.

"You're not!" Emily exclaimed as Aaron simply grinned at her and dialled Dave's number, careful to ensure the call couldn't be traced before he did. Aaron held out the phone in his right hand and prepped the can with his left, holding it close to the phone as they heard a dial tone before the sound of the phone at the other end being picked up.

"_Rossi residence,"_ Dave said as Aaron pressed down on the button at the top of the air horn which let out a deafening blast of noise. They hesitated just long enough after Aaron let go of the trigger to hear Dave swear loudly and demand to know who they were before they hung up and fell into hysterics.

"I wish I could've seen his face," Emily said, wiping her eyes and grinned at Aaron. "So where did you get the air horn?"

"Jack got it on the Fourth of July," Aaron replied as he quickly blasted it again before grinning at Emily. "Got any ideas about who else we can call?"

Emily paused before her grin was replaced with another wicked smirk. "Well Morgan has been getting on my nerves the past few days…"


	29. Day 29: Doing Something Sweet

"These are for you," Aaron said as he handed Emily the box of chocolates in his hands. Emily glanced at the box and noted they were her favourites and not necessarily cheap either.

"Thanks but why?" Emily asked; she and Aaron were close friends but they didn't really make a habit of buying things for each other unexpectedly. Not like this anyway.

"You've not been having good days the past few days." Aaron said quietly, they were alone but even so, this was not a conversation that should be overheard. He noted how Emily reacted immediately, her body language becoming closed and defensive as she was clearly about to deny it.

"I've been fine," Emily dismissed predictably and Aaron gave her a knowing look. "Seriously, I-I've had worse." It wasn't a lie, the past few days had been rough but ever since Doyle had returned and tried to kill her; she'd had worse days; darker days than the ones she'd recently had.

"I'm not saying you haven't. I just wanted you to know that you're not alone and my offer does and will always stand. Anytime you want to talk or you feel like it's a bad day; you come and talk to me. I am always here for you." Aaron said and Emily managed a small smile.

"Thanks Aaron," Emily said sincerely as she hugged him and quickly kissed his cheek. It wasn't much but it was a genuinely sweet surprise and she had to admit; he had made her bad day a lot better.


	30. Day 30: Doing Something Hot

**AN: I am so so sorry. I hadn't forgotten this, it was just over the past 3 weeks I've had two assignments to do for uni which just dominated me. This is the final one and thanks to everyone who had read it, offered feedback and support. It means a lot.**

"You know when you said it was hot, I was not expecting this." Emily said, coughing as the smoke invaded her lungs.

"We're in a burning building and you're still being a smartass?" Aaron choked out as they stumbled through the smoke and dodged flames to try and reach the door to get to freedom. They were on a case in Texas and their UnSub had given them a false lead and led them to a warehouse that was rigged to be set alight as soon as they got there. Diesel plus a simple petrol bomb meant the building was so engulfed in flames; adding to the burning heat of the day meant the fire was gaining in strength.

"It's why you love me," Emily quipped as she and Aaron found the door and began shoving it aside to slide it back and open up.

"Sure it is," Aaron retorted as they shoved with all their might until the door gave way and they stumbled out into the day light, inhaling sweet pure smoke-free oxygen and coughing heavily to clear their throats and try and sooth their aching lungs. As Aaron called in the fire and police services, as well as tell the team what happened, Emily wiped her face in an attempt to clear some of the soot before she realised what Aaron just said to her. That he loved her. Sure it was most likely a sarcastic retort to her dry-witted remark but even so, did he mean it?

Emily wasn't sure but what she was sure of what that there was a serial killer with a fondness for petrol bombs on the loose and she needed to focus on that and not her own personal life.


End file.
